An Examination of Psychological Factors That Predict College Student Success and Retention

The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction among measures of self-efficacy, locus of control, coping behaviors, and attitudes toward the education-employment connection on retention among college students at a small liberal arts college. Results indicated statistically significant differences between high and low intent to return to the college on the educationemployment attitude measures. Students who had greater comfort in selecting their academic major, believed that their academic work would lead to future employment and believed that their current academic work would lead to future success, had significantly higher intent to return to the institution the following semester. Limitations and implications of this finding are presented and directions for future research discussed.